That is a very nice piece. A lot of good solid pictures and natural sounds. So the pictures were good, and the sounds were good too. Whenever you have a visual story – with nice sounds to work with – it makes it easier to actually produce a story with more texture. So the fact that there was japanese music being performed…. allowed the VJ to use that as a background. The same with editing using the strokes of the paddles.

The story line was a bit vanilla. Which is fine…because it is what it is. But I try to say… find the story within the story. The VJ picked a story – but it could have been focused even more. Do a bit more research, and perhaps find a real gem – to focus on – instead of a general wide angle look at this subject, or this race. This is a very common mistake for us all – we find what we think is a story… but it too often is too general. So dig deeper.

There is no doubt that video jouralists at newspaper websites are just getting started. Yet over time, they will definately improve. Their use of multimedia – stills/video/audio/graphics – seems to be taking a more “visual” approach than TV news. I think TV news needs to approach their product more with visuals in mind too. The competition is just beginning on the web. This was a decent story, with nice video.

Its good work. There were some iris issues and steadiness of the low shots but in all good work. Two quick tips. When you are doing a portrait style of lighting make a reporter sandwich with the key light (camera/reporter/key light) that way you light the far side of the face, without going into the reasons why… it just looks better. Also when you use an underwater camera rub potato juice on the lens and it helps stop the water beading on the lens when it comes out of the water.

Cliff how may times do I have to post my stuff?
Comment on it or STFU.

Nice work. Excellent use of natural sound. But, Michael, teach your clients how to read copy. Inflection. Inflection. Inflection. It’s as important as shooting, writing or editing. It’s a common shortcoming with all your beginning vjs.

Pete – inflection is one of those skills that one typically isn’t taught initially. I know you come from broadcasting and I myself have had some experience in radio broadcasting so I understand what you are saying. The skill of inflection initially is a conscious decision and takes practice, but it does eventually become second nature.

As VJ’s get a better sense of what they are doing, additional skills like proper inflection when narrating will be added to VJ training and will eventually become another tool in their arsenal.

very, very well done. indeed……tv should be concerned about how quickly newspapers VJ’s can produce this type of quality. now it’s up to guys like me, and other sales types, to figure out the best revenue strategies to support and monetize these efforts.